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Jay-Z. Jay-Hova. Jiggaman. Shawn Carter, known for the better
part of two decades by these stage names, first earned fame as a
rapper in the mid-1990s and has since built a business empire
that has included a record label, a clothing line and a minority
stake in the Brooklyn Nets basketball team, on top of his own
record sales and concert performances. At 43, he remains one of
the premier hip-hop artists in the world. Twelve of his albums
have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list, more than any
other solo artist.

Jay-Z's latest venture is sports agency Roc
Nation Sports, a division of his entertainment company Roc
Nation. His first client: top New York Yankees player Robinson
Cano. Ahead of a contract negotiation that could command as much
as $200 million over the next several years, Cano
announced on Tuesday he was dropping legendary sports agent
Scott Boras to sign with Jay-Z. With friends like baseball star
Alex Rodriguez and basketball king LeBron James, Jay-Z is well
positioned to enter the world of sports.

Long before he was a diversified entertainment mogul
worth an estimated $450 million, Jay-Z was a high-school dropout
trying to make a name for himself freestyle rapping. Some
highlights from his remarkable rags-to-riches story follow.

1969: Shawn Carter is born in a housing project
in the notorious Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. His
formative experiences here and in the three high schools he
attended -- one of which he shared with future rappers The
Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes -- would form the
autobiographical basis of many future lyrics. He never finishes
high school, and for a time he deals drugs while simultaneously
trying to break into the rap game.

1989: Carter's street nickname, Jazzy, evolves into
his stage name, Jay-Z. The name is partly in homage to his
hip-hop mentor, Jaz-O, and partly a reference to the J/Z subway
lines that stop near his home in the Marcy Projects.

1995: Unable to get a major label interested in
his music, Jay-Z -- who by now has begun to make a name for
himself by freestyle rapping -- forms record label Roc-A-Fella
with friends Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. It will later
become one of the most legendary labels in hip-hop.

1996: Jay-Z releases his first rap album,
Reasonable Doubt, at age 26. "[It] had all these
emotions and complexities and layers that a typical hip-hop album
wouldn't have if you were making it at 16 [or] 17 years old," he
said. "That isn't enough wealth of experience to share with
the world." It reaches No. 23 on the Billboard chart.

1999: With Roc-A-Fella partner Dash, Jay-Z
creates clothing brand Rocawear. Eventually it will offer
multiple lines of apparel and accessories. "My brands are an
extension of me," Jay-Z later tellsMen's
Health. "They're close to me. It's not like running GM,
where there's no emotional attachment."

2001: Days after the September 11 terrorist
attacks, Jay-Z releases his sixth album, The Blueprint.
It is now considered a classic of the genre, and in 2012
Rolling Stone
ranked it No. 252 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of
all time.

2003: Jay-Z releases The Black Album,
ostensibly his final record before retirement. However, in one
track, "Encore," he hints at a future comeback. The line "when I
come back like Jordan wearing the four-five" references Michael
Jordan's return to basketball, when he initially wore a No. 45
jersey.

2004: After his retirement from making solo
records, Jay-Z collaborates with other entertainers and becomes
involved in philanthropy. In December, news
breaks that he and his partners have sold their remaining
stakes in Roc-A-Fella to parent label Def Jam for $10 million.
Jay-Z is tapped as president and CEO of Def Jam Records.

2007: Jay-Z
sells the rights to the Rocawear brand -- but not his equity
stake -- to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million in cash. At this
point, Rocawear is doing more than $700 million in annual retail
sales. He continues to oversee marketing and product
development.

2008: In January, Jay-Z
steps down from Def Jam to launch new venture Roc Nation, a
diversified entertainment company that today represents artists
like Rihanna and Shakira. Months later, he marries longtime
girlfriend Beyonce Knowles, forming one of the music industry's
ultimate power couples. Jay-Z is featured on her songs "Crazy in
Love" and "That's How You Like It" from her solo album
Dangerously in Love.

2010: Jay-Z publishes his memoir,
Decoded. In the book, he reflects on his childhood, his
success and the significance of rap music. He also discusses what
he sees as the special contributions he and his fellow hip-hop
artists can make to the larger culture. "Artists can have greater
access to reality; they can see patterns and details and
connections that other people, distracted by the blur of life,
might miss," he writes. "Just sharing that truth can be a very
powerful thing."

2012: Daughter Blue Ivy Carter is born to
Beyonce and Jay-Z in January, and he dedicates the song "Glory"
to her. Later that year, Forbes staff writer Zack
O'Malley Greenburg publishes his Jay-Z biography, Empire
State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went from Street Corner to Corner
Office, charting his rise from a teenage drug dealer to a
successful businessman. Forbespegs
Jay-Z's net worth at more than $450 million, making him one of
the wealthiest men in hip-hop.

2013: Jay-Z
announces his new sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, and its
first client, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano.